Tachograph card used fraudulently by UK firm

A trucker had his O-licence revoked with the firm’s director disqualified as the driver had been using the firm’s tachograph card, driving for a “truly shocking” period.

A public inquiry was launched into Sahota Transport – following a traffic examiner halting one of their trucks, when investigating the vehicle the examiner found a surprise. The driver in question had a tachograph ID that wasn’t his – he didn’t resemble the driver named on the ID.

The driver explained to the traffic examiner that his identity was that of the ID. Following this, a site visit was arranged – Sahota, the company’s director was questioned regarding the ID. He continued to insist that he was the driver he had previously met on the road.

As a precaution from Sahota’s solicitor, the interview was suspended. A few weeks later the solicitor got in touch with the traffic examiner, explaining that the driver in question when stopped on the road was in fact a man named Amrinder.

Checking the driver’s ID card and how it had been used with Sahota’s, the driver had exceeded maximum permitted daily driving hours by almost an hour, as well as the max permitted duty time by over several hours. The rest period taken when comparing both IDs was an average of three and a half hours – with the legal requirements for a minimum of 9 hours.  On another date, the driver had gone over permitted daily driving time by just under 4 hours.

The traffic examiner explained that while questioning the driver, there were often pauses throughout the conversation where the driver would be his phone – suggesting that he was being told what to say from the device.

On behalf of the company, Philip Brown confirmed the driver had gone “considerably in excess of his maximum permitted hours” on the move for over 23 hours, then going back to work three and a half hours later. The ID swap was claimed as a one-off incident, as it had been left in the truck by mistake.

Traffic commissioner Nick Denton stated in a written decision that he found the situation “inconceivable” when he had heard the events and what took place during the driver’s time on the road. Having deliberately attempted to keep their act a secret and covering their tracks as much as possible rather than telling the traffic examiner there and then.

Due to this, he came to the conclusion that the transport manager could no longer be trusted after these actions took place. The transport commissioner disqualified the driver for 5 years – and the firm had a revoking of their licence processed.

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